When mum-of-three Demi Moore married Punk'd star Ashton Kutcher 16 years ago their 15-year age gap left Hollywood aghast.
The floppy-haired heartthrob was the talk of Tinseltown while Demi was relatively out of the limelight, but after a whirlwind romance the Ghost actress thought she'd finally found her "soulmate".
But her love was about to be tested.
After meeting in 2003 at a mutual friend’s dinner in New York City – Ashton, 25, was hosting Saturday Night Live and Demi, 40, was promoting her comeback film Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.
The pair hit it off instantly after the former model went back to Demi’s where they reportedly talked all night until they fell asleep together.
"He was 25. I was 40. But I’m telling you: we couldn’t feel it. We were totally in sync, from our very first conversation," Demi recalled in her 2019 autobiography Inside Out.
The pair got married in a Kabbalah ceremony on 24 September 2005 at their home in Beverly Hills in front of over 100 guests – including Demi’s ex-husband, Bruce Willis and their daughters Rumer, Scout and Tallulah.
Just six years later the glamorous couple split amid report that Ashton had cheated on Demi with a younger woman.
“I remember the night they met,” Demi recalled. “We were at a bowling alley with Rumer and when he went to switch out our shoes, she gave him her number on a napkin. Or that’s what he told me at the time.
"When we got home that night, and he showed it to me, I said, ‘That is just gross. We were there with our kid!’ I had a visceral response - It was revulsion. So the fact that he pursued her felt like a real ‘f*ck you.'”
Rumours soon started circulating about the couple attending threesome parties prompting Ashton to suggest the 'blurred lines justified' his betrayal, according to Demi.
It was reported the couple added a 'third party' to their bedroom leading the actor to question what was acceptable within their unorthodox relationship.
"He was looking for a way to deflect blame to maintain his perception of himself as a decent family guy," Demi wrote.
The mum-of-three claimed that Ashton asked her to engage in group sex, which she agreed to on two occasions in a bid to appear like a 'cool wife.'
She wrote: "I put him first, so when he expressed his fantasy of bringing a third person into our bed, I didn’t say no. I wanted to show him how great and fun I could be.
"They were good people, but it was still a mistake. I was strangely flooded with shame, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this whole thing was somehow my fault."
The second time Demi alleged Ashton had cheated, she found out through a Google alert that Sara Leal, 22, said she slept with the star.
Demi told Good Morning America: ‘‘I asked if it were true and he admitted it right away and I think my response was, “Are you f**king kidding me…?” I think I felt like I could barely take a breath."
Adding to her heartbreak, Demi is said to have sadly lost the couple's baby at six months.
The pair reportedly tried IVF on numerous occasions without success.
Demi said the trauma left her 'lost, empty, desperate and confused.'
The actress said she lost sight of the positives in her life and 'clung to Ashton' which prompted him to 'pull back.'
A determined Demi went on to research egg donors, before Ashton reportedly said: "I don’t think I can do this, and I don’t know if this is working."
After citing irreconcilable differences the Two and Half Men star moved out of the couple's home in 2011 with Demi announcing on 17 November that they had split.
A statement from the actress read: "It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I have decided to end my six-year marriage to Ashton.
"As a woman, a mother and a wife, there are certain values and vows that I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit that I have chosen to move forward with my life.
"This is a trying time for me and my family, and so I would ask for the same compassion and privacy that you would give to anyone going through a similar situation."
Ashton went on to marry Family Guy star Mila Kunis and now has two children with the actress.
Demi remains close friends with her ex-husband Bruce Willis with the pair even quarantining together along with their three children Rumer, Scout and Tallulah during the pandemic last year.
